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Friday, 9 December 2016

Review - 'Arrow', S05E09 - 'What We Leave Behind'

Just as the last episode of The
Flash devoted itself to giving
some much needed development to its villains, Doctor Alchemy and
Savitar, it was fairly clear that this episode of Arrow
was intended to do much the same for Prometheus. It's definitely
something that is needed, too – since, at this point, Prometheus is
still little more than a blank slate in a vaguely intimidating outfit
(once again, much like Doctor Alchemy and Savitar).

Of course, we have
already received plenty of hints about the very personal connection
between Prometheus and Oliver – as, it seems fairly clear, he is
definitely more focused on acts of revenge than on any sort of grand
villainous scheme. We also already know that, whatever this
connection between the two might prove to be, it is definitely tied
to Oliver's much more ruthless and blood-thirsty activities during
the show's first season.

Of
course, this aspect of the current season has proved to be somewhat
problematic for me – for the very simple reason that I just wasn't
a fan of the first season of Arrow.
I didn't actually become a fan of the series until the second season,
when the story finally began to move beyond Oliver's 'kill list' –
and, I was only really able to do that
by pretending that the first season never actually happened. I do
have to admit, though, that the ides of Oliver's morally dubious
activities, back in the first season, being used as the basis for
some genuinely tense drama, now, does seem to have potential – and,
that certainly seems to be what the writer's are trying for, with
Prometheus.

Here,
for example, we learn of a direct link between this mysterious figure
and one of the name's on that original list, given to Oliver by his
father – with this episode's flash-back sub-plot introducing us to
Justin Clayborne (Garwin Sanford), an extremely unpleasant 'Martin
Shkreli' analogue.

While,
at first, this whole sequence did little more than remind me of all
the reason why I disliked Arrow,
in its first season, I do have to admit that the episode was
ultimately able to turn the stark difference between Oliver, then and
now, into a strength for the episode. The episode's final
confrontation between Oliver and Prometheus, in particular, wove the
past and present together in a truly fascinating, and rather morbid,
way – as Prometheus recreated the aftermath of Oliver's attack on
Clayborne's building (complete with innocent victims to stand in for
the innocent security guards that Oliver killed. on his way to
Clayborne). Honestly, by the end of the episode, it's difficult to
entirely dismiss Evelyn's claim that Oliver isn't a hero.

Of
course, while the reveal that Prometheus may actually be Clayborne's
illegitimate son, and that he has devoted the past four years to
turning himself into something of a reflection of Oliver, does give
us some insight into what motivates this mysterious figure, the same
can't really be said for Evelyn. The idea that she might have been so
disgusted with what she learnt of Oliver's actions as 'the Hood',
earlier in the season, that she might be moved to abandon the team
made sense, of course – and, that hint of moral outrage we saw,
earlier, did serve to give her some much needed characterisation.
But, the idea that her anger at Oliver would lead to her betraying
the entire team, and allying herself with someone who is, arguably,
much worse than Oliver ever was does feel like a bit of a stretch. I
can really only hope that there is more to Evelyn's actions and
decision than what we see in this episode – because, so far, it
just doesn't make any sense.

Unfortunately,
while the episode does make the attempt to delve into the romantic
troubles of a couple of members of the supporting cast, neither have
quite the impact that they were clearly intended to have – for the
very simple reason that we simply haven't spent enough time with
these 'love interest' characters to form any sort of attachment to
them. In this episode, Curtis finds himself caught up in what feels
like a very standard dilemma for a superhero romantically involved
with a 'normal' person – that being, what happens when their
partner learns their secret. Here, we have Curtis's husband, Paul
(Chenier Hundal), presenting Curtis with a rather abrupt ultimatum
when he learns of Curtis's nightly activities as 'Mister Terrific'.
It's a very conventional romantic sub-plot for this sort of series,
really – and, it only distinguishes itself, here, in whatever
progressive element you care to find in having it be based around two
gay men, this time around. By the time Paul left with packed
suitcases, though, I had already lost interest.

On a
similar note, Felicity also seems to be having troubles with her new
boyfriend, Billy Malone (Tyler Ritter) – who, much to her apparent
surprise, actually intends to do his job and try to catch the
murderer, rather than leave it all up to a team of costumed
vigilantes. Much like the time spent with Curtis and Paul, though, it
just doesn't amount to much. Although, at least in this case, this
sub-plot is ultimately tied back into the episode's main plot-line in
a surprising, and genuinely tragic, manner.

In the
case of both Paul and Billy, though, it isn't really the episode's
attempt at romantic drama, in itself, that is the issue – but,
instead, it is the simple fact that we barely know either character,
so we have no real reason to care about them. Neither of them even
felt like fully formed characters, to me. It is disappointingly clear
that the only true purpose either serves is to add to the drama for
the two more important characters they are linked to.

These
weaker elements may detract from the episode somewhat, of course –
but, fortunately, the rest of the episode is of such high quality
that the damage is minimal. This is an episode made up of some truly
fantastic action sequences, and some great moments of drama. While I
can't really say I was overly excited to see any sort of return to
the first season of Arrow,
I am prepared to admit that it was actually put to good use, here.
The idea of Oliver Queen being so directly confronted by the true
cost of his past decisions (in much the same way that Barry Allen has
been, recently) definitely appeals to me, also – so, I'm definitely
hopeful to see a little more of it.